A cobforation of new yobk



July 28, 1931. G. E.l SMITH METHOD OF MAKING STEERING WHEELS FiledA Oct. 6, 1927 Sheets-Sheet, l

gigi L v Q 9 ou ov Emmi um? E@ 10 @amnuununnrln Filed Oct. 6, 1927 lJuly 28, 1931.

' manufacturingthersame .30 Figure l Patented July 28, 1931 UNITEDFSTATES PATENT oFF-TCE f GRANT E. sMrTH, or roUGHxEErsIE; NEW Yoan, ASSIGNoEcTo roUvAILsMITH conroRATIoN, or roUG-HKEEPSIE, NEW YoEK, A CORPORATION `or NEW vYORK METHOD 50E MAKTNG'STEEETNG WHEELS Application i1e'd'0ctober6,1927. -.Seria1 No. 224,334. Y

'The present invention relates to. Wheels and to the manufacture .thereof-,g the .object `of the invention being :to provide .fa strong, durable 1and vattractive Wheel and `to `provide ,-zan economical and expeditious'method of Inasniuchvas the invention vhas "been .developed in connection with the manufacturev of steering Wheels lfor automobiles, such an embodiment; has been w/selectedy `for illustration and description herein.- Y

'The ,invention .provides` va novel Wheel whereinv :the -rim .and spokes rare. constructed of' moldable, preferably fibrous, material `15 which `Will `feel comfortable to the hand and .which Will have -an .attractive appearance.

'Bhe invention provides also a novel method of manufacture Wherebythe Wheel may be economically and' expeditiously molded .from

20a .blank of a `character fsuch that it can .be made from relatively Iinexpensive material .and by steps readilyadapted for expeditious manufacture not requiring a high degree of 'skillon the .part of operatives. v

The i nature and ob'zects p' of the invention .will be Vbetter understoodfrom the` descripv`tion of an `illustrative embodiment thereof. In the :accompanying drawings Vforming 'a part hereof-'Q f is a sectional viewshow'ing a steering Wheel inL position in Vthe fmolds in whichlit has been formed. o. l f

Figure 2 is a ,perspective viewofthe Wheel v,removed from the molds.

Figure 3 is 'sectional View showingV a complete blankl assembled'in ajmold previous to the molding and compressing operation.

` Figure 4 is a fragmental plan Avievs7 ofthe blank before molding.v

4.0 "Figure 5 .is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure A3,and

` Figure "6 is a'detail viewofjailller member of the hub blank.

The 'Wheelf'shown for the purpose of illus- .45ftration is compressed .and moldednto shape vand :size from -a Apartially shaped blank =of substantially larger size as; ,shown `in Figs. 3, ,4 and 5. {The.complete blank shown is 'made up principally from paper impreg- ,50 .nated with a suitable.- adhesive, preferably paperlofgood` quality suclr as `kraft Apaper n f to provide considerable strength. Thegrm yblank 57..,as shown inf-the vFi'gsfll :and f5 is in the form of anannular roll iwound withthe axis-of the vroll substantially coincidentwvith 255 :the axis of thewheel so .thatithe blank when compressed in .the fmold' isv compressed edge- `Wise iof the paper. It .fis believed -thatby 4compressing the paperedgewise a betterfbond .isfformedl 'f M 2:5 y Eaclrspoke blank 8 consistsro'f paperwith .a ,fmetaljr'reinforcementj l9 about-which lthe '.paperis arranged. Prreferabl thepaperis arrangedin planes vatiright'y angfes to Vthe plane of the -rim so that when compresseditfisfcomc55 .pressed ledgevvise of the paper. 'The .rim :is .recessed as best shown in Fig. 3 Zto receive the end Iof vvthe paper spokeandy a central ldeeper recess being lprov-ided to receive the fend of the .reinforcement projecting 'beyond 1z0 the paper. Obviously this particular arran-gement'may be varied as the requirements "of manufacture may demand. At the innerv endthe metal reinforcement extendsfsu'bstan tially .into the fhu'rb. The fhub lblank-may 'be g .75 formed Iin any suitable-manner tor provide a rigid l structure for holding the inner. ends ofj'the spokes'. InV lthe arrangement shown, Y upperandflower annular rollsof paper 10.and

11 are placed vrespectively above and. below; B0 f thefinner ends of the spokes, these rolls being of a simple annularform that canbeconven- ,ientlyand economically manufactured. The lateral spaces Vbetween the inner ends of the spokesmaylbe suitably filled as,'for example,; :85 by filler membersV such as-shovvn at .12 in Fig. Q6 or-loose fibrous .material maybe introduced .i nto the mold'cavity to fi-ll the space and Yprofliop fthenecessary`material .for forming the "lhe .blank sections should 'Fin each Lcase She Y substantially thicker than the lcorresponding ,parts of the yfinished Wheel and imay be, .for example, twice as. thick so 'that the :material of the 4blank is compressed to approximately n95 one-half of. .its'ori-ginal volume. This'jproy vides a sufficientcompactingofthe material, and Jforms a hard durable product. o The rim blank and nthe principal hub yblanks are of vsuchuform and so designed thattheygcan ,be v-100 effectively and economically wound by machinery using paper which has been impregnated with a suitable adhesive. Grevices between the sections of the blank may be filled in with a fibrous compound such as distintegrated paper of the same character as the impregnated paper used in forming the sections of the blank. The exterior surfaces of the blank sections may be coated with additional material if desired or one may rely upon that impregnating the paper.

The impregnating material and the coating material which, if desired, may be the same, is preferably of such characterV that during the molding operation and without separate treatment it will become cured to form a permanent hard wear-resisting surface. A suitable phenolic condensation product or resinous material with a solvent such as methyl-alcohol may be used. It is convenient to make the lsolution of the material used for impregnating the paper of a very thin consistency and to make a solution of the material Vused for surface treatment of the blank, if any surface treatment in addition to the impregnation is desired, of the consistency of varnish. This solution may conveniently be applied by dipping. To provide a thick coating of the material on the exterior surface of the blank the blank sections or the complete assembled blank, if desired, mayV be redipped several times or a similar material in powdered form may be applied by dusting on after the first dipping operation and while this coating is still wet or tacky.

The assembled blank when dry is compressed and molded to form the finished wheel; the rim and hub sections being compressed about the ends of the spokes so as firmly to lock the same together. Preferably the compressing and molding operation is performed while the blank is maintained in heated condition and the compressed wheel is then cooled while still under pressure.

In the method selected for more specific description the blank is placed in the reviously heated two-part mold 15, 16 and the mold is placed in a press between heated pressure heads 17, 18. After the blank has been arranged in the mold it is desirable to add additional adhesive, for example, in the form of dry powder, about the joints and if any large crevices exist to add also impregnated fibrous material in order to fill the same to make stronger and better joints. The amount of adhesive added to the parts will depend upon the character of the wheel desired and whether asubstantial thickness of the adhesive is desired over the body of the structure.

Thepressure heads of the press are then brought against the mold lparts to press the same against the blank with a light pressure. The mold is allowed to absorb heat from the pressure heads and the blank to absorb heat `coordination of the fibers.

from the mold for a predetermined time, for example for five minutes, until the blank becomes thoroughly heated and then the eX- treme pressure is applied to close the mold and compress the complete blank to form the wheel as shown in Fig. 1. When the mold is closed and the blank fully compressed, it

lis cooled while still maintaining the prescured and hardened. Theadhesive material also acts as a lubricant between the mold and the blank and probably also between the different thicknesses of paper. The pressurek employed may range, for example, from 500 to 5000 pounds per square inch of the blank to be compressed depending upon the amount of compression desired, the quality of theV material of the blank, the size of the resultant object and other particular features characteristic of the material, finish or mold. The temperature at which the operation is performed may vary considerably. Successful results have been obtained by compressing kraft paper blanks at temperatures which approach 300o F. It is found convenient to heat the pressure heads by steam under a pressure of about pounds per square inch circulating in suitable passages 20 therein. The molds may becooled when the compressing operation is completed by circulating water in these same passages. The preliminary heating of the molds'prior to the insertion of the blank may be accomplished in any suitable way.

The invention provides an exceptionally strong fabricated structure by reason of the compressing and molding which increases the density of the material `andincreases the By the term fabricated structure7 is implied one built up of several parts connected with one another to form a complete structure. The operation of compressing the paper or other fibrous material and combining the phenolic condensation product or other equivalent material therewith produces a strong and durable wheel.

The foregoing description of a particular embodimentis illustrative merely and is not intended as defining the limits of the invention. rlhe blank shown is merely illustrative, as obviously other material may be used for parts of the wheel, as may be desired, without departing from the spirit of the 4invention, as dened in the appended claims.`

hub blanks and spoke blanks Vof moldable material, the spoke blanks including vertical laminae of thin sheet material, and compressing and molding the Whole under pressure to form an integral wheel.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification this 30th day of September, 1927.

y GRANT E. SMITH. 

